Kent State Men's Basketball Camps

Head Coach

Rob Senderoff enters his fifth year as the head men’s basketball coach at Kent State.

The 42-year-old took over the program in April 2011 after spending seven previous years on the Golden Flashes’ coaching staff. He begins the 2015-16 season with a 81-54 record as head coach.

In his four seasons as head coach, the 21-year coaching veteran has continued the success of the storied program that he helped build by leading the Golden Flashes to three of 20-win campaigns and postseason appearances. Last season was Senderoff’s most successful as head coach, as he led Kent State to a share of the Mid-American Conference regular season title. The championship season was followed by a postseason run to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) quarterfinals during which Senderoff tied the school record for postseason wins. The Flashes were earned road wins at Middle Tennessee and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before falling to Northern Arizona.

The inaugural year for Senderoff began with one of the most memorable debuts in the coaching profession. Kent State recorded a monumental 70-60 win over West Virginia and Hall of Fame Head Coach Bob Huggins, snapping the Mountaineers’ 36-game non-conference home winning streak. The victory, which was part of ESPN’s 24-hour College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon, also marked the first true road win over a BCS school for Kent State in 41 years.

The historic first win was just the beginning, as the Flashes won 21 games, advanced to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament and earned an invitation to play in the CIT in each of his first two seasons. Senderoff earned the first postseason victory of his head coaching career in 2013, as the Golden Flashes defeated Fairfield in a CIT first round matchup.

During his 11 seasons as part of the Kent State program, Senderoff has helped guide the Golden Flashes to 10 postseason appearances (2002-06; 2008-13; 2015), racking up 238 victories for an average of nearly 22 wins per year in the process. He has been on the sideline for four of the six Mid-American Conference regular season titles in school history. In 2011, Kent State became the first MAC team in 21 years, and just the second in 48 years, to claim second consecutive outright regular season championships. The Golden Flashes capped off the year by advancing to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) quarterfinals.

Senderoff assumed the de facto role of offensive coordinator during his three seasons as Associate Head Coach (2008-11), taking Kent State’s scoring to new heights under his watch. In 2010-11 the Golden Flashes poured in 2,626 points, which trailed only the 2001-02 Elite Eight team for the highest single-season total in school history. In his first year back with the program in 2008-09, Senderoff helped orchestrate an offense that led the MAC in both scoring and field goal percentage. It was the first time since joining the league in 1951-52 that the program has led the conference in scoring.

Long known for his ability to develop post players, Senderoff transformed the play of 2011 MAC Player of the Year Justin Greene. Under his tutelage, Greene went from a 2.2 points per game scorer as a freshman to the nation’s most improved player in 2009-10, followed by an Honorable Mention All-American selection in 2010-11. Greene capped off his career in 2012 and will go down as one of the top players to ever put on a Kent State uniform, ranking fourth in career scoring, second in rebounding and second in blocked shots.

A proven national recruiter, his track record as a talented young assistant did not go unnoticed. Current ESPN.com Insider Jeff Goodman analyst recognized him as the top assistant coach in the MAC in 2010, the same year that The Hoop Scoop rated him as one of the top 50 Mid-Major Assistants in the country. Coming in at No. 4 on the list, he was the only MAC assistant coach ranked in the top 25.

During Senderoff’s first stint on staff from 2002-06, the Golden Flashes went 89-40 (.690) and won three MAC East Division titles. After three straight NIT appearances, he helped KSU advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2005-06 as the team won both the MAC regular season and tournament titles with a 25-9 overall record. Senderoff spent the 2006-07 season at Indiana where he worked with All-Big Ten and preseason All-American D.J. White. While a member of the Hoosier’s staff, IU went 21-11 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He was also part of a staff that recruited The Hoop Scoop’s No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2007.

With the Golden Flashes he had a critical role in the progression of 2004 First Team and MAC Defensive Player of the Year, John Edwards, who played in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers. Additionally at Kent State, Senderoff also coached All-MAC performer Antonio Gates who went on to become an All-Pro tight end for the San Diego Chargers.

A native of Spring Valley, N.Y., Senderoff began his coaching career as a student assistant at the University at Albany under legendary coach Richard “Doc” Sauers before moving on to the MAC as a graduate assistant at Miami from 1995-97 where he was part of a staff that helped develop NBA players Wally Szczerbiak and Ira Newble. Returning to the East Coast, he spent time at Fordham (1997-99), Yale (1999-2001) and Towson (2001-02) prior to joining the Golden Flashes staff.

Senderoff earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Albany in 1995 and a master’s in sports studies from Miami in 1997. He is married to the former Lauren Edelstein, and the couple has two daughters, Samantha and Rachel.